Orlando's iSquare Mall developer battles foreclosures

The man behind one of Orlando’s biggest and flashiest development proposals, the $400 million iSquare Mall + Hotel on International Drive at Kirkman Road, is fighting for control of the 5.6-acre property after two foreclosures were filed against it.

The man behind one of Orlando’s biggest and flashiest development proposals, the $400 million iSquare Mall + Hotel on International Drive at Kirkman Road, is fighting for control of the 5.6-acre property after two foreclosures were filed against it.

The man behind one of Orlando’s biggest and flashiest development proposals, the $400 million iSquare Mall + Hotel on International Drive at Kirkman Road, is fighting for control of the 5.6-acre property after two foreclosures were filed against it.

Abdul Mathin and his companies were hit by two foreclosure lawsuits since August. One of the foreclosures, by a Delaware company, has asked an Orange County judge to appoint a receiver to take over the property, which is currently a 1980s-era retail center called International Shoppes.

The Delaware lender, Elizon DB, says in the lawsuit it holds a $14.3 million mortgage on the property, and accuses Mathin’s company of falling behind on payments, failing to collect rent from tenants and failing to maintain the property. Elizon is suing Mathin, International Shoppes, and iSquare development company BlackMINE Group. The other foreclosure is from Bank of the Ozarks over $4.3 million.

In an apparent attempt to block the foreclosures, Mathin on Monday filed to put International Shoppes LLC into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, declaring about $20 million in debts and $6.7 million in assets.

BlackMINE’s coporate attorney Scott Goldstein said Monday that “International Shoppes’s decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy will have no effect on the development of iSquare.”

Goldstein has claimed the company is lining up funding for the massive project.

“Defendants have been diligently attempting to refinance the subject loan and are currently in possession of a Letter of Commitment from a new lender,” Goldstein wrote. He also said Mathin’s companies have been negotiating in good faith with Bank of the Ozarks, but an attorney for the bank filed a response saying that isn’t true.

International Shoppes has filed several lawsuits since June against tenants at the Shoppes, seeking rental payments or eviction. For example, in a suit against nightclub owners Luxury Nightlife Inc., Mathin’s company accused the club owners of not paying rent since July 2015. So far no one has responded to those accusations in court, and the judge entered a default judgment against Luxury Nightlife and in favor of International Shoppes.

Mathin planned all along to tear down the Shoppes to make room for his iSquare vision. His company has owned the older retail center since 2007.

Based in Windermere, Mathin and BlackMINE secured zoning approvals from the city for the iSquare project. In October 2015, city officials approved a slightly smaller version of the project at 23 stories, around 400 feet tall, about the height of the Orlando Eye.

The original plan called for 749 rooms, then trimmed to 539 rooms. BlackMINE’s website for the project still says it will have an ultra-luxury, 100-room Capella Orlando Hotel and a 500-room Solis Orlando Hotel, both to be managed by Atlanta-based Capella Hotel Group.

A proposed skating rink and a performance theater had been removed from plans at some point.

Instead, retail and meeting space was boosted, and a tower was added for a helipad. An attached parking garage and a rooftop rotating restaurant were part of the plan filed with the city. In July 2015, Mathin said construction could start as early as March 2016. He has also said he was speaking to potential investors to fund the project.

Mathin’s road to making iSquare a reality hasn’t been without issue. Soon after it was announced, he acknowledged that the project’s website originally included photos that were taken from other websites, including a room photo from the W Hotel in New York. After the Orlando Sentinel questioned the images, Mathin took them down.

According to court records, a Maitland company that provided a construction estimate for iSquare, Willis Construction, filed suit against BlackMINE in April 2016. That lawsuit accused BlackMINE of failing to pay its bill. But the Willis suit was withdrawn a month later when Willis told the court the parties had resolved their differences amicably.

I'm a newspaper reporter looking for business news: pbrinkmann@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5660; Twitter is @PaulBrinkmann

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